Max Verstappen has continued his dominance in Formula One, winning the first sprint race of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix.
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Red Bull ace Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on the ninth of 19 laps and stretched out his lead to win Saturday's race by 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Dutchman extended his championship lead over teammate Sergio Perez, who finished third.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was fourth with his teammate Carlos Sainz fifth.
McLaren's Lando Norris started on pole position but ran wide on the opening lap as he battled with Hamilton and ended up sixth.
Norris's Australian teammate Oscar Piastri was seventh and Mercedes' George Russell eighth for the final point.
Daniel Ricciardo finished in 11th
"The first few laps were quite hectic," Verstappen said after his eighth F1 sprint race victory.
"Once I got in the lead the car was handling pretty well."
Verstappen, the three-time defending F1 champion, will be the favourite to win Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, which is the fifth race of the season.
He has won three of the season's first four GP races - and 22 of the last 26.
Second place was like a consolation victory for Hamilton.
The seven-time champion has not been a factor the last several seasons, with his last GP win back in 2021 in Saudi Arabia.
"I forgot what it felt like to be out ahead," Hamilton said.
"It felt good for the short while that I had it. I was grateful for the moment."
The sprint - F1 will run six this season - is about one-third the distance of a full race. The winner gets eight points, with seven for second, six for third and so forth.
Saturday's race was run on a dry track, unlike the wet and slippery qualifying session on Friday.
Australian Associated Press
